I follow politics but I don’t go crazy. Meaning, I’m not the kind of person that wears buttons, puts bumper stickers on their cars, and plant signs on their home lawns. I confess I do have one vintage Ronald Reagan shirt I picked up a while ago from a second hand store. So, while I watched the elections with great interest and cried like a baby, it was hard to live vicariously with those who were celebrating like Kids Gone Wild in Seattle or those who were visibly upset about the doom and gloom news of impending socialism and Obamunism.

It’s not just because I’m an ‘independent’ voter but also because I feel like my voice in the City, Church, and Culture is to be a ‘reconciler’ or ‘peacemaker’ that I’ve been feeling torn over the growing division in the country between RED and BLUE. When you see leaders tear each other apart, you wonder how anything be accomplished to remedy some of the national and global crises.

My ballot still sits on my desk but I’ll be completing it soon and walking it in on Tuesday to my local polling place. As I shared last week and again, yesterday during my sermon at Quest, I will not be divulging who I am voting for various reasons.

Side question: Do you think “active” pastors [currently serving congregations] should publicly share who they are voting for?

Politics can get heated and messy. You don’t just have to watch the various media and news outlets to know this. You can also sense the tension within the Christian community which I think is perfectly normal and okay as long as we 1] engage in the rules of civility and 2] get off our righteous soapboxes and consider what it means for us to live out our faith and convictions beyond the election season. Read the rest of this entry »

Every presidential election, abortion becomes a tense issue and I suspect that will never change. Let me first say I respect those whose commitment to the unborn extends beyond the election rhetoric. I have a friend whose life long calling and job is to fight for the unborn. Unlike her, I confess that while I am Pro-Life and against abortion, I am more talk than walk, more preach than do, more blog than [can’t find a good word here]. But I still struggle with it. While I was genuine in my quote in Sojourners that

“I don’t want to be defined by one or two issues”

I still care much about those one or two issues. While I can’t honestly come to agree that abortion is the greatest moral issue of our day as some are proned to say, I know that God cares immensely for the unborn and thus, we must care as well. God also cares for the born and thus my “womb to tomb”ethic of pro-life.

Couple people [I know of] left our church because they disagreed with my view on abortion and I suspect that it may be possible that couple more may leave after they read this. Like most Christians I know, I am against abortion. However, I just do not believe we can legislate it. Without going into all the details, the layers over abortion is so complex that even after extensive research, I can’t understand how a country like the United States can enforce abortion and pay for the enforcement – if it were to be turned illegal. Furthermore, I think we are fooling ourselves if we think abortion rates will be reduced significantly if Roe v. Wade was overturned. I can certainly be wrong. Rather than legislating it, I wonder how abortions can be reduced by speaking and appealing to the Heart and Soul of a person and to make all necessary provisions if a person decides to have that baby. In short, can we maintain choice but do all that we can to preserve and ensure the life of an unborn? This is where most of us fall short. Read the rest of this entry »

Alright folks. I’d love to hear from you. On this blog, I would love to host an engaging, passionate, but respectful conversation on who YOU are voting for as the next President of the United States. Since the elections are exactly a week away, I thought this would be great timing. Some of your answers will likely be helpful for me as I prepare my sermon for this upcoming Sunday on the topic of ‘Faith & Politics.’

If you don’t mind sharing, share WHO you are voting for and WHY and for some of you, reasons why you are NOT voting. [If you don’t mind, tell us where you’re from.] And let’s try to refrain ourselves from the ‘Obama is a terrorist,’ ‘Palin is moosehunter,’ ‘Biden is a plagiarist,’ and ‘McCain is so old that he farts out dust’ comments. Read the rest of this entry »

I am proud to be an American. I am excited that Minhee will vote in the presidential election for the very first time. And I am grateful that our children are U.S. citizens; we’ve enjoyed speaking to them about the privilege and importance of voting. It’s certainly not a perfect country but we spend so much time “breaking down” our faults that we sometimes forget that it is a special country. And precisely for that reason, much has been given and much is to be expected.

One of the reasons why I think highly of my country is because of the two fine candidates we have for the President of the United States. Watching every second of these videos from the Alfred E. Smith dinner[the day after the 3rd debate] not only made me laugh so hard but also reminded me that we have two solid candidates – even if they do have some “fundamental” differences. These videos are funnier than ANY SNL skit I have ever seen! Read the rest of this entry »

I wasn’t planning on watching the final debate tonight since the 2nd one was such a yawner. But tonight’s final debate was actually very good. Kudos to Bob Schaeffer. Both Obama and McCain were impressive and while, Obama fans won’t agree, I think McCain “won” this debate. What were your thoughts? Any undecided voters swayed tonight?

And speaking of the debate, I have a picture of Joe the Plumber from Ohio [below]. [update: here’s the real scoop on Joe.] And why not any love for Jane the Plumber?

Yes, it is true that I have been to Iowa for “ministry.” Several years ago, I had the great privilege of officiating the spectacular Anderson/Eisenlohr wedding.

So, yes, I’ve been to Iowa but I want to reassure you that I was NOT the pastor who delivered this “invocation” couple days ago at a McCain rally in Iowa. This post does not serve to be pro or anti McCain. It simply serves how NOT to pray for a presidential election.

That’s my opinion. What do you think? And what are “the variety of reasons?” I’m thankful that we have two solid candidates with different views but nevertheless, two solid candidates. But geez, I can’t wait for November 5 to come around.

Sometimes the most interesting stuff happens before John McCain even arrives. At a McCain rally today in Davenport, a pastor delivered an odd invocation. Read the rest of this entry »

Sarah Palin is all the buzz nowadays. Or at least since McCain startled the nation by naming her as his Vice-President running mate. Till then, no one – outside of Alaska and diehard Republican political junkies really knew who she was. As you might have expected, the traffic on search engines on “Sarah Palin” have been through the roof. Last week, the local Seattle PI paper stopped by Quest to interview couple of us which also led to a front page photo of our church sanctuary [and one of our pastors].

Maybe it’s the stuff I subscribe to but I haven’t read too many kind words about Sarah Palin so I thought I’d devote an entry on my blog to Sarah Palin. Why? Because I like Sarah Palin…but not in that way. Read the rest of this entry »

Nicholas Kristof’s column in the NY Times, entitled The Push to ‘Otherize’ Obama is a worthwhile read. While some of you may scoff, this isn’t my attempt to advocate for or against one candidate over another. But in light of the “historic” nature of the primary and presidential elections: Hilary Clinton [female candidate who garnered 18 million votes], Barack Obama [first Black-American Presidential nominee of a major party], and now, Sarah Palin [first Republican female VP candidate], I have been curious how folks in this country would respond to these candidates and the simple fact that they are mostly unlike what this country has seen before for the highest offices of the land. And let’s not forget John McCain whose nomination is historic in itself as he is one of the oldest Presidential nominees.

Maybe it’s because I’ve been watching episodes of LOST on DVD but the labeling of “the Others” has been very fresh on my mind which is why this article really hit a chord with me. Is it just politics? Is it fear? Is it part of the game? Read the rest of this entry »